Manufacture of ice.



W. P. WIEMANN.

MANUFACTURE 0F ICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. IB, |911.

Patented July 3, 1917.

INVENTOR WIITNESSES WILLIAM P. WIEIVIANN, F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

MANU-FACTURE yor ICE.

Applicationmea Api-nis, 1917. serial No. 163,078.

To all whom t concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLLAM P. Wm-

MANN, aicitizen of the United States, and aV resident of Pittsburgh7 inthe county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new'and useful improvement in Manufacture of Ice; and I do hereby declarethe following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof. Y

My invention relates to the manufacture i of ice, and has specialreference to devices for the forming of ice in the usual ycans i fromwater placed therein.

The object of my invention is to provideV a cheap, simple and efficientwater agitating device which can be connected to such can'insuch a wayso as to be readily and conveniently attached toy and detachedtherefrom, and one which will so agitate the water contained in such canto form purey clear ice therein. A

- forth To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in thenovel arrangement, construction and combination of parts which.

will be hereinafter more specically set and described, and particularlypointed out in the claims.

To enable others skilled inthe art to which my invention appertains toconstruct andl use my improved device for the manu- .-facture of ice, Iwill describe the same more i fully, referring to the accompanyingdrawing, in which-n Figure 1 is a sectional view showing the upper'portion of an ordinary ice manufacturing can, having my improved deviceaty /tached thereto, land with the partswof the kpositionaandl fcylinder iny thei-rnormal or raised positions Fig.k 2 is an` venlargedsectional view of the drawing.

As illustrated in the drawing lis the ordinary approved form of ice can,into` which th'ewater 2 for making the ice is placed, and suchwaterextends 'substantially `up tothe dotted line 3, `in such can. i

At the upper portion of thecan 1 and within thefsame isl the agitator4t, `which' is hung from the upper edge 1 of such can, and is formed ofan `operating `cylinder r5,

Iconnected` i9: Said` `fbdge l;ereinafter.de-v

Specificaton of` Letters Patent.

Patented July 3,1917.

scribed., This cylinder has the upper and lower heads 5 and 5 on eachvend of the same, and the lower has a curved pipe 6 leading therefrom, soas to ybe positioned centrally and vertically within the water in saidcan and at the upper portion of the same for the purposes hereinafterdescribed.

Within the cylinder 5 is a piston 7, and within the center of the pistonand extendingV through the same into the cylinder is the pin 8. Theupper cylinder head 5 has an enlarged portion 9 extending into thecylinder, and within such head and portion are the air admission andexhaust ports 10 and 11 respectively, such admission port having aliexible pipe 12 connected theretoand leading from any suitable airpressurek supply. Vilithin the admission port 10 is an inlet valve 13,which is adapted to be seated against a seat 111 in the head 5', and isprovided with a stem 15 extending through said head into the cylinder.On the inner face of the enlarged portion 9 ofthe head 5 and around theexhaust port 11 is the packing ring 16 for forming a seat for the levervalve 17, which is positioned under the said head and is looselysupported by means' of the pins 18 passing through one end of the sameandsecured in the enlarged portion 9.

Within the cylinder 5 is an Vextension spring 20, which is of spiralform in helical coils 20, andhas the coillat oney end secured within thehead 5` as at 21,. While the coil can. The lower end of such pipe 6 hasa nozzle 24, attached thereto,y and having within the same a partition25, within which and around the sameare a series of spiral shapedkgrooves 26 to give the water discharged back into thecan from thecylinder 5, through said pipe and nozzle, a circular motion, for thepurposes hereinafter described. Y

In the use lof my improved'` agitating device. for makngicefthe water2te be. frozen.

I raised position.

having been placed in the can 1 up to the line 3, and the agitator 1placed in position in such can, and as the ports of the agitator whennot operating, as was shown in Fig. 1, with the piston 7 and valves 13and 17 held in their raised positions by the spring 20, with the valve13 openedrand valve 17 closed, so all that is then necessary is to admitair under pressure through the pipe 12 and into the admissionk port 10.This willallow the air to pass into the cylinder' around the valve 13through the port 10, and hold the lever valve 17 against its seat 16,while the pressure of such air in such Cylinder forces the piston 7 downagainst the tension of the spring 20, so that at the end of the downstroke of said piston, the inwardly projecting portion 20 on the spring20 will come in contact with the lever valve 17 and force it from itsseat 16 covering the exhaust port 11. This will allow the valve 17 todrop down to its open position, thereby permitting it to move away fromthe stem 15 on the valve 13 and enable such valve to drop down on to itsseat 141 to shut oft the air, and with the release or shutting off' ofthe air, the spring 20 will cause the upward movement of the piston 7 toits During the upward movement of the piston 7, the air in the cylinder5 passes out through the exhaust port 11 and some of the water in thecan 1 will be drawn through the nozzle 24 and pipe 6 into the cylinder5, and when the piston reaches the end of its up-stroke, the valve 17will engage the stem 15 to open theV valve 13 and close the exhaust'port11. Upon the downward movement or stroke of the piston 7, as justdescribed, such water in the cylinder 5 will be discharged back into thecan, from such vcylinder through such pipe6 and nozzle 24;, and byreason of the angle of the grooves 26 in such nozzle, thecircularlnotion imparted thereby to such water will give a swirling orvortex action to such water entering the water inthe can and en- Y ableit to reach the lowest part of the can in such action during thefreezing of the water in the can. and these operations of dischargingthe water back into the can are contin-y ued throughout such freezing.

It will thus be seen that the up or suc- -tion stroke, being actuated bythe extension spring, will be uniform or regular, while the down orwater discharging stroke varies with the airvpressure employed, so thatif stronger agitation ofthe water in the can is desired, such airpressure is raised,

and if less agitation is desired, the'air pres-lr sure is lowered, whilethe air is acting only on the down stroke, and the extension spring, onaccount of being attached to the agitator head and piston, only operatesthe up stroke.

Theagitating'device will act to cause a strong downward flow of thewater there# from at the center of the can, which ow will be ofsufficient force to reach the bottom of the can and'agitate all thewater therein, while the rotary action of the water leaving the nozzleof the device shall be only sut@ cient to cause a slight whirlpool orvortex action to the water in the can.

f The suction of water from the can by the agitating device and thedischarge of such water from the device back into the can are eachperformed by different means, and the discharge vofrwater is alwayscontrollable, while the operating air for the device will always bekkept from contact with the water in the can, thereby overcoming thewarming effect of suchv air on such water and retarding the freezing ofthe water in the can.

As the air is used only on the down or discharge stroke, a maximumagitating eifect is maintained in the water in the can with a minimumexpenditure of power, and as practical experience has shown, the timeconsumed in the up or suction stroke is about three times as long as thedown or discharge stroke, the air is used only about one-fourth of thetime, so that this time varies with the air pressure, with increased airpressure shortening the discharge time, while the up or suction strokeremains the same.

It will be evident that in the use of my iinproved device, pure, clearice can be made in the usual ice making cans and without any'foreignmatter appearing in the same, as such matter will be forced to the topof the water and ice, where it can be collected y and then wiped ortaken 0H after the ice cake or plate is formed.V

Various modifications and changes in the design, application,construction and operation of my improved device may be resorted towithout departing from the spirit of the invention, or sacrificing anyof its'advantages.

What I 4claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. In a device for making ice from water, the combination with thereceptacle for the water for freezing, of a water agitating delet airports in said cylinder, said agitator' being adapted to withdraw Waterfrom said receptacle and to discharge the same back into said receptacleunder pressure and in a spiral. i s

3. In combination with a device for freezing ice, a water agitatorcomprising a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, valve controlled inletandoutlet air ports in the upper portion of said cylinder, an extensionspring attached to said cylinder and said piston, said agitator beingadapted to withdraw water from said device and to force it back intosaid device under pressure.

t. In combination with a device for manufacturing ice, a water agitatorcomprising a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, an eX- tension springsecured to said cylinder and said piston, and valved inlet and outletports in the upper portion of said cylinder, said' inlet and outletports being adapted to be operated by said spring.

5. In a device for making ice from water, the combination with thereceptacle for the water for freezing, of a water agitator comprising acylinderhaving a piston therein, air inlet and outlet ports at the topof the cylinder, valves for controlling said ports, an extension springsecured to said cylinder and said piston, said spring being adapted tocome in contact with said outlet valve to unseat the same and seat theinlet valve at the end of the down stroke of said piston, and means onsaid piston for re-seating said outlet valve and opening said inletvalve at the end of the up-stroke of said piston.

6. In a device for making ice7 the combination with a receptacle forwater, of an agitating device comprising a cylinder having a pistontherein, air inlet and outlet aports in the upper end of said cylinder',valves for controlling said ports, an eXtension spring secured to saidcylinder and said piston, said spring having an off-set therein adaptedto unseat the outlet valve and seat the inlet valve at the terminationof the down stroke, and a pin centrally located on said piston forclosing the outlet valve and opening the inlet valve at the terminationof the up-stroke.

7. In a device for making ice, the combination with a receptacle forwater, of a water agitator detachably secured to said receptacle andcomprising a cylinder having a piston therein, an extension springsecured to the top of said cylinder and said piston, valved inlet andoutlet ports in the top of said cylinder, a pipe connected to the lowerend oit' said cylinder and positioned centrally at the top of saidreceptacle, said piston being adapted to be operated alternately byfluid entering said inlet port and by said extension spring, saidagitator being adapted to draw water from said receptacle on the upwardstroke of said piston and to discharge said water, through said pipe, onthe downward stroke of said piston in a spiral form under pressure.

8. In a device Jormaking ice, the combination with a receptacle forwater, of a water agitator detachably secured to said receptacle andcomprising a cylinder having a piston therein, an extension springsecured to the top of said cylinder and said piston,

valved inlet and outlet ports in the top of said cylinder, a pipeconnected to the lower end of said cylinder and positioned centrally atthe top of said receptacle, a nozzle on said pipe having groovestherein, said piston being adapted to be operated alternately by fluidentering said inlet port and by said extension spring, said agitatorbeing adapted to draw water from said receptacle on the upward stroke ofsaid piston and to discharge said water, through said pipe, on thedownward stroke of said piston in a spiral form under pressure.

In testimony whereof, I the said WILLIAW P. WIEMANN, have hereunto setmy hand. WILLIAM P. WIEMANN.

Witnesses: i

J. N. COOKE, J. M. GEOGHEGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

